The price of diesel at Enoc/Eppco service stations in the UAE has been increased to Dh18.50 per gallon.

The increase reflects surging international prices that have broken through the $173 per barrel level for low sulphur diesel and $132 for crude oil, according to a spokesperson from Emirates National Oil Company (Enoc), the Dubai Government-owned diversified energy group.

The increase is the result of the growing pressure from rapid international price hikes in both diesel, because of refining, shipping and additive costs and crude oil, which have left the oil company with no alternative, it said.

“We procure product from all of the GCC national refineries, at the international price and although we continually work hard to offset the negative margin incurred on fuel sales, such exceptional market forces leave us with no option but to try to recoup a proportion of these losses. Equally, we would consider a price reduction to correlate with any lowering of international prices in the future,” explained a spokesperson for Enoc.

“In spite of incremental fuel price increases over the last two months, we are buying at continually higher prices and as each shipment cost grows, we are still incurring losses with each gallon sold,” said the spokesperson.

“There has been a global shift in the oil market’s underlying structure, fuelled by an exponential growth in demand, notably from China and India and other emerging markets. This is concurrent with a potential for demand to outstrip supply with some theorising that the oil-producing nations may not be able to keep up with such unprecedented demand over the next 10 years,” he said. – TradeArabia News Service